Sleep as the best recovery

Many years ago I read where Bill Rodgers basically sat around or napped between workouts. At the time being 15, I thought that was crazy. Running was his full time job and jsut a passion for me. The lessons learned through my own body taught me that sleep is essential. Maybe more than food, water or Ibuprofen. Over the years my body has worked best on sleeping from 9pm-6am with a nap during the day. When I work out hard is becomes necessary. The sleep helps the adrenal system recover, lets your own Human Growth Hormones restore your system and lets you get the time to dream about your next workout. Now that I bike more often, the workouts don't have the skeletal stress associated with running and as a result I seem to recover quicker.
  Life and it stresses are one more reason to get sleep. My body has followed the daylight schedules and I need less sleep during the summer but, that heat really takes it out of you. Don't feel guilty about getting the sleep your body craves, your family and workouts will thank you.

skill versus fitness

After years and years of running, it has become ingrained in my mind and body that basic fitness comes before acquiring skills. To explain. WIth running you have to develop your cardio, muscular and skeletal fitness before developing the skills to hold pace, run fast, and endure. I approached running learning speed first. That is not the usual route.

  The learning curve with single track mountain biking is steep. I have to erase all the thoughts from running and fitness. With mountain biking you have to develop skill first. Learning how to ride over roots and rocks, turn corners, climb hills, ride over obstacles comes before fitness. Without this skill development you simply cannot ride fast enough to get in a workout. Momentum is your friend in mountain biking, without it you come to a stop on every root or rock or hill.

  This new sport is an opportunity for me to improve again. To feel the challenge of mastering a new sport. Will I ever be as good at biking as I was at running? No. That time has past but, I will always push myself to learn, to develop the skills. Time to go ride and develop some more skills... Later.

Singlespeed for singletrack

This is my singlespeed steed. I got it last year and so far it has only been out to Crabtree Park. I have gained confidence on the easier trails that Crabtree has to offer so, now is the time to take it to Beaver Dam and Harris Lake for some more challenging terrain. The nice thing about this singlespeed 29er is the ease of use. No gears to change which frees me up to concentrate on the terrain and line I take while biking. The 29 inch tires also have an easier angle of attack when rolling over roots, rocks and logs. That means less chance of going over the handlebars. That means less scars  and bruises for Steve. Now that is something I can get used to.

Advanced and significant

arthritis in both knees. I knew it but, having a second opinion that confirms this sucks. Went to Dr. Grant at Duke Ortho this morning for the usual routine of x-rays and consult. Over the past 2 years my running has diminished as my knees could not take what my mind and rest of my body wanted to do. I have had 3 series of injections of synthetic synovial fluid into my knees of the past year and a half with diminishing returns. Dr. Grant confirmed that at some point I will have to have a knee replacement. Since they only last about 10 years, I need to get to at least 55 before my first one. He was hopeful that I can continue to strengthen my knees to help delay the aging process of my knees. Thank goodness I have been biking more and more over the past year.
     Running has been my passion and obsession for 30 years. It helped me get through high school, run the local racing scene with some success and slay a few personal demons along the way. I have read thousands of articles on running, read dozens of books and run hundres of races. What do I do know? I am optimistic that biking will give me some outlet but, it will never match the exhausted feeling of pushing myself to the max as often as I could on my runs. My particular genetic makeup lent itself to bad knees but, I would not change a step. I would still attack races, training runs and hammer running buddies the same way. The thrill of the chase is what drove me, the perfect race and to share some laughs along the way. Will I miss it, yeah. Time to go find some cycling buddies to drop on a training ride. I can still run some and might show up for a run from time to time. The engine is still good and the drive is there but, time to take the next step. Running has always given me SO much. Time to give something back.

Games athletes play

As adults we never outgrow the need to have play in our life. It helps connect us, make us more active and helps us be happy. As athletes we still have the need for play. Setting out a training schedule and having things written down like, "10 mile run  7 minute pace"  every day would bore us to tears, even if we could do that week in and week out. We need the variety that comes with working out at a park one day, a gym the next or our our neighborhood the following. When I go out to ride  my bike or run, I usually go out to Umstead  State Park or  the American Tobacco Trail. These places inspire me and help keep me motiovated. At Umstead when I am running, I can sprint from trail marker to trail marker, jump over rocks or a bench, run through a stream or chase an imaginary foe fast down the trail. When I am biking I can hammer up a hill thinking I am dropping Lance Armstrong or speed down a hill trying to be aerodynamic. Yeah,  I am probably not any of these things but, they bring out the playful side that we need to do this year after year. We need this to be better people and athletes so, get out there and play.